Tossed Upon the Waves
by RowenaR
Summary: It's days like these that make John Sheppard love his job as military CO of Atlantis.


**Author:** RowenaR

**Rating:** K

**Category: **Gen

**Disclaimer:** Stargate belongs to Gekko and… all those other people making money with it. Anyway, I don't. Honestly. So – I don't own, you don't sue. Deal? Also, Team Kemp belongs to **-leah** (even though Lieutenant Kemp _technically_ belongs to whoever owns Stargate... but -leah earned him much more because she actually gave him something to do so there).

**Summary: **It's days like these that make John Sheppard love his job as military CO of Atlantis.

**A/N: **This is a little something I wrote for an author friend of mine, the aforementioned -leah. She writes these amazing Team Kemp stories and publishes them over at fanfiktion[dot]de (which means that to date unfortunately, all of them are only available in German... but I'm working hard on convincing her to change that ;)) and after an intense plotting session I just had the feeling I'd like to give Team Kemp some time to relax. This is what came out of it. Also, she allowed me to tie them into my 'Protect and Survive'-verse which is another sign that she rocks :D (a gold star for everyone who finds the sentence that does the tieing ;)).

And of course this wouldn't have been published so fast if my beta **mac** hadn't succumbed to my incessant nagging as fast and professional as she always does... which is why she _also_ rocks!

Anyway, as always: Not a native speaker, so please excuse any weird grammatical constructions, run-ons and typos. Feedback will earn you a cookie, flames will roast my marshmellows.

* * *

**Tossed Upon the Waves**

"_Friends  
Get scattered by the wind  
Tossed upon the waves  
Lost for years on end  
Friends  
Slowly drift apart  
They give away their hearts  
Maybe call you  
Now and then  
But you wanna be  
Just friends."_

_John Michael Montgomery, "Friends"_

It's been ages, he thinks, since he could fully relax and so he's determined to make the best of his first day off on the mainland ever since they rescued Teyla from Michael about two months ago. He's not alone since a number of other Atlantis personnel opted for the mainland as well but he doesn't mind. In fact… it does relax him to see his people unwind, especially after what the Rodney from the alternate future had told him.

So he's sitting in the shade of a tree on the beach, watching some of his soldiers goofing off. There are, for example, the four soldiers who'd been in the jumper he'd flown over; Lieutenants Matthew Kemp, Jenna Wells and Jason Ferrier and Sergeant Adam Faraday, all on the same team. Right now, Wells seems to be having fun with alternately splashing Ferrier and Faraday and getting away from them to avoid being splashed herself. Or, as it happened just now, being dunked under water by Faraday. Kemp, the team's leader, stands a little off to the side but he thinks he saw a big grin pass over Kemp's face just as he saw his 2IC emerge sputtering and blustering at Faraday.

To be honest… he'd never thought he'd ever see them like this. Kemp had taken over the team from Major Wayne some time last year and Wells most of all had taken Major Wayne's departure pretty hard. He still remembers the trouble she'd given them by not accepting Kemp as her new team leader. Granted, they were very different from each other and naturally Kemp hadn't known how to deal with Wells' issues about her father, Major General Wells, as well as Wayne had. But she hadn't made it _easy_ for poor Kemp, either.

Ferrier and Faraday both got along with Kemp okay and he'd hoped they'd simply drag her along until she'd be fine with Kemp. However, in the end, it had taken some deathly peril – and being locked up together in the dark for a few hours – for them to stop getting at each others' throats every chance they got. Unfortunately, right after that, daddy Wells had swept in and degreed by virtue of being head of personnel affairs at Homeworld Security that young Wells had to go home.

He grins. Right now, young Wells has obviously resorted to fighting dirty and started throwing mud at Faraday and Ferrier. Her aim is surprisingly good so the guys' retaliation follows immediately.

It's strange, he thinks… just a few months back – shortly before they finally found Teyla – it had looked like Wells would never come back again. They'd told her she could request an annulment of her transfer but for that to work… she had to be unsuitable for her new posting. However, as it had turned out, she'd had done a really great job in the development department of Homeworld Security since she had a degree in aerospace engineering. It had taken a _lot_ of hassling for all of them – Sam Carter, Kemp, Wells, himself… – but in the end she'd been back and even though he'd had his reservations – after all, her performance after Wayne's leaving had been less than stellar most of the time – it had proven to be a good decision to let her come back.

Kemp's team is now one of those teams of young, promising soldiers that make him proud to be their leader. They still have their issues; of course, as Lorne for example told him two days ago he'd heard Kemp and Wells fighting _again_ after a mission had gone a little awry. But what had been a little astounding about that had been that the moment Lorne had stepped in and demanded them to tell him what the hell their problem was, they'd both covered each others' asses and told Lorne that there was no problem at all. They'd simply refused to let a superior in on their internal problems and Lorne had judged it as a _good_ sign. Well, after grumbling about Wells corrupting Kemp to her _slightly_ insubordinate ways, that is.

Anyway… "Sir, excuse my intrusion but… can I talk to you for a moment?" Huh. Where did _Kemp_ suddenly come from? For a moment, he's tempted to say that no, he can't but then he remembers that Kemp is really a good officer – despite the attempts at manipulating his CO into sparing him from any more temporary team members once or twice – and that he always prided himself in being there for his soldiers when they need him and he nods.

"Sure, shoot." Kemp rubs his neck, throws a look back towards where his team is still in the middle of a mud war and looks a little unsure of what to do next… so he rolls his eyes and says, "I won't bite, Lieutenant. You can even sit down, if you like."

"Right," Kemp says… and then gingerly sits down beside him. "So… I wanted to thank you, sir."

He raises his eyebrow. "Thank me, Lieutenant? Whatever for?"

Again, Kemp takes a moment before he answers. Then he says, "For helping me… the team to get Jen… Lieutenant Wells back, sir." Wow… two slip ups in one sentence. He doesn't have to have a closer look at _that_ team as well, right? It's really enough that Lorne and Cadman are giving him headaches.

But… there are still rumors going round of Kemp hugging Wells in plain sight of everyone shortly before she had to leave Atlantis. Oh well, it was probably just Kemp trying to appear professional as ever and failing miserably at concealing that he's not as distanced to his team as he likes to appear.

"Well," he finds himself saying, "let us just hope it was worth the hassle." Actually… seeing Wells goofing off with Faraday and Ferrier and seeing the little grin on Kemp's face when she squeals at Ferrier tackling her tells him that yes… it _was_ worth getting Wells back. He really was a little sick of the three of them – Kemp, Faraday and Ferrier – chasing off everyone he assigned them as a substitute for Wells and hanging out in the cafeteria with sour faces whenever he saw them off-duty.

However, he still half expects Kemp to say "Yeah, me too," but in the end Kemp surprises him, "Actually, sir… I think Wells is a decent soldier. Or could be, if she ever got over those issues she has with her father. Anyway… it's good she's back. For the team, I mean."

Just another almost slip up… okay, it's time he tests Kemp a little. "You got a soft spot for her, don't you, Lieutenant?"

For a moment… Kemp actually _blushes_ but then he answers matter-of-factly, "She reminds me of my sister, sir. She's probably just as clumsy, irreverent and impulsive as Lieutenant Wells but… you'd still never want to do without her." Oh. He hadn't expected Kemp to be so… open about it. Maybe the rumors about them being involved in some way are really wrong. Maybe… maybe Kemp and Wells are simply in the stage of something like a very shaky friendship that could turn out into a real bond of comradeship.

"I…see. Yeah, well, then… you're welcome, Lieutenant." Kemp nods and gets ready to get up again.

"Again, thanks, sir." Then he stands up, throws a look towards his team – by now, they're all stretched out in the sand, a little exhausted from their earlier exploits – and then says, "Well then… guess I better have a look at my team… make sure they didn't knock each other out and all that." That's followed by a little pained grin suggesting Kemp spoke from experience here and he nods at the Lieutenant.

"You do that, Lieutenant. See you at 1800 at the jumper?" Kemp nods, throws him a casual salute and jogs back to his team. When he arrives, Wells props herself up on her elbows, squints up to him and says something. He can't hear Kemp's answer but he can see that he plops himself down in the sand beside her… and the moment he does, Wells gives him a light shove to the shoulder. He expects Kemp to give her a good wigging for that but in the end it just looks like he grins and simply stretches out beside her.

Yeah, he thinks, these are the times he loves being CO of the Atlantis military contingent. On days like that… he can believe that everything will be alright in the end, even his own various messes. Maybe… it's not Kemp who has to thank _him_ but rather he who has to thank _Kemp_… and Wells, probably.


End file.
